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Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is leaving the governing body at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a batch of electronic messages between him and notorious criminal Jeffrey Epstein became widely known.

He remarked in a release that he was "thankful for the chance to have participated, excited about the prospects of the organization, and eagerly await tracking their development".

The prominent academic, who previously led the Ivy League institution, stated on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his association with the convicted sex offender.

Email Communications

The recently released messages revealed that Summers corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein until the day before the financier's 2019 apprehension for suspected trafficking of young people.

In a separate statement, the artificial intelligence company said it understood his determination to resign.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the insight he brought to the Board," OpenAI stated.

Congressional Action

This announcement follows after both chambers of the US legislature decided on Tuesday to pass a legislation that would require the US justice department to make public its records on the case.

The measure will afterward move to the office of US President Donald Trump for endorsement. The President has indicated he plans to approve the legislation, after reversing his position on the issue following pushback from his followers.

Email Contents

A group of Epstein-related messages made public by the House Oversight Committee days ago mentioned numerous prominent individuals in the billionaire's former circle, without suggesting any illegal behavior by those figures.

The messages showed that the economist and Jeffrey Epstein dined together frequently, with the billionaire often seeking to link Summers to prominent world leaders.

Individual Statement

After the emails were released with the public, Summers said he took "total ownership for my ill-advised judgment to continue corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein".

He added that he desired "to restore confidence and fix connections with the people nearest to me".

Career Background

The economist held senior posts under two Democratic presidents; serving as Treasury chief under President Clinton, and as head of the economic advisory body under Barack Obama.

He headed the institution from the early 2000s and is still a professor there. When announcing his departure from public roles recently on this week, he stated he would maintain his academic responsibilities.

Other Impacts

Following the economist's announcement on earlier this week, the Washington think tank, a progressive research organization in the capital where he was a prominent member, verified that he was not affiliated with the group.

He entered the directorate of the AI company, which creates the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its top executive Sam Altman.